Undated courtesy photo of Jacob Clarkson, second left, and friends re-enacting the Beatles "Abbey Road" album cover on Garfield avenue in Eau Claire, Wis. Pictured, from left to right- Ross Livermore, Jacob Clarkson, Casey Malan and Mike Dinh. Clarkson was one of four 2009 graduates of Stillwater Area High School who lived in an apartment that burned near the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. Clarkson, 22, died at Hennepin County Medical Center Tuesday, Oct. 9, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Ross Livermore, 21, died in the fire, which was discovered about 6 a.m. Monday. Garret Isakson and Casey Malan, both 21, were treated at a local hospital and released. Photo courtesy of Keri Clarkson.

Undated courtesy photo of Jacob Clarkson at the Walker sculpture garden. Clarkson was one of four 2009 graduates of Stillwater Area High School who lived in an apartment that burned near the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. Clarkson, 22, died at Hennepin County Medical Center Tuesday, Oct. 9, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Ross Livermore, 21, died in the fire, which was discovered about 6 a.m. Monday. Garret Isakson and Casey Malan, both 21, were treated at a local hospital and released. Photo courtesy of Keri Clarkson.

The Clarkson family sat around their kitchen table, fiddling with the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. If Jacob were there, he would’ve been a big help.

“He was just good at them,” Tina Clarkson said of her son.

The boy who asked for physics books for Christmas, who always talked about inventing something, who explained the world with both wonder and reason, was there only in memory.

This week, Jacob Clarkson, 21, was one of two young men from the Stillwater area to die in an apartment fire near the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus, where he was months away from earning a bachelor’s degree in physics.

And now with their youngest child gone, the family is struggling to put together the pieces without him.

The quiet, thoughtful figure was doted upon by his three older sisters when he was born. They carried him around until he was 3, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, he took to Legos, then began building forts inside the family’s Grant home.

Always constructing something new, he grew addicted to PBS’ “Nova,” read science fiction and started making observations so insightful they startled his sisters.

Peering over the jigsaw puzzle, sister Ellie Clarkson remembered going to a store and seeing a dazzling fiber-optic decoration.

“The physics behind that is so cool,” Jacob told her — before telling her why. Seconds later, he added, “I just want to invent something, even something like this.”

What Jacob told his family often stuck. Once, when sitting with his father in their den, Jacob said three seemingly simple words.

“Dad, everything’s physics.”

The three words encapsulated a thousand conversations with Jacob.

“We watched ‘Nova,’ and something about physics or string theory would come on and he would start explaining it to us,” said his father, Mike Clarkson.

“He liked to collect physics books. That’s what he would ask for for gifts,” his mother added.

The desk in Jacob’s bedroom has a single photo taped above it: a Hubble Space Telescope photograph of the Pinwheel galaxy.

Several feet away, the shelves of his closet are still lined with a few prized textbooks, for classes he may not have even taken:

“The Sky at Night.”

“Calculus, Early Transcendentals.”

“The Physics of Everyday Phenomena.”

His mother looks at the tomes, and smiles. “He wanted books on everyday physics things so he could talk to people clearly. … He didn’t just learn it to get tested on it — he actually learned the stuff. And he could learn it all without doing very much.”

Although Jacob never had problems in classes, his family urged him to make up a few questions, “just so they know your face,” Tina Clarkson said.

Stillwater High astronomy teacher Jeff Ranta noted: “He always understood the current topic — no matter how in-depth it was. He would always know the answer, even when others did not. He just had this quiet passion just for the subject.

“He really understood where his position was in the universe,” Ranta added. “He could see time and space.”

Jacob’s desire to learn and experiment often extended beyond the classroom on a more mundane level. Once, a friend asked him to run a 10-mile race with him — a half-hour before it began.

“He took a pair of my running shoes,” Mike Clarkson said, “and he just ran it. I was in the same race, and I didn’t know it.”

Like his lifelong friend Ross Livermore, 21 — the second to die in the Eau Claire fire — Clarkson also played trombone in the band at Stillwater High, where he graduated in 2009.

Band director Dennis Lindsay said Clarkson tried to branch into many different directions — from the jazz ensemble to the pep band to the concert band.

“He was curious intellectually, curious in life. Somebody who wanted to find out more,” Lindsay said.

When he told his family he was going to UW-Eau Claire to study physics, “I’ve never seen him so excited,” said eldest sister Keri Clarkson.

Clarkson was starting to search for doctoral programs once he graduated, hoping to continue his studies of — as one of his favorite authors, Douglas Adams, put it — life, the universe and everything.

“Just sad he didn’t have more time to do it,” Lindsay said.

Clarkson died of burn injuries Tuesday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Two other roommates, Garret Isakson and Casey Malan, both 21, survived the Monday morning fire, which remains under investigation. All four were longtime friends from the Stillwater area.

A visitation for Clarkson will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Bradshaw Celebration of Life Center, 2800 Curve Crest Boulevard, in Stillwater.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in News

Vadnais Heights-based H.B. Fuller Co. on Friday announced a restructuring of various parts of its business, which it said will include the elimination or relocation of some 220 positions globally by early next year. The manufacturer of adhesives and specialty chemicals also said it would make some product changes and “operations enhancements and efficiencies” in order to “operate more effectively...

President Barack Obama has endorsed a Minnesota bid to host a World’s Fair in 2023 on the theme of wellness. In memos Friday to the secretaries of state and commerce, the president says he finds that officially recognizing the proposed expo is in the national interest. An organizing committee announced plans last year for “Minnesota World’s Fair 2023: Wellness and...

St. Paul Public Schools has established a where anyone can donate money to pay off anonymous students’ overdue lunch accounts. The district said it’s a response to a social media campaign that caused many people to call the district asking how they can give. Families in the district owe nearly $28,000 on school lunches. All district schools provide free breakfasts and most offer...

Weekend snow is on tap for much of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 3 to 6 inches expected in the Twin Cities and more elsewhere. The snow will be followed next week by the season’s first subzero temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, a slow-moving low pressure system will spread snow into western Minnesota on Saturday morning and...

Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis is planning to reduce its workforce by as much as 4 percent next year. The hospital plans to eliminate up to 275 full-time positions to balance the budget and keep the opening of a $220 million ambulatory and outpatient surgery center on schedule for 2018, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The hospital’s workforce...

Two construction companies have agreed to pay a combined $147,500 in fines over safety violations in the death of one worker and injuries to another during construction of the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium in downtown Minneapolis last year. Berwald Roofing is paying $113,200 for three violations, while Mortenson is paying $34,300 for one violation. The penalties are lower than Minnesota’s...